Leicester City join Marseille in links to Ajax striker transfer
Leicester City have been attributed with “concrete” interest in Ajax striker Chuba Akpom.
Reports from De Telegraaf in the Netherlands say City have joined French side Marseille and Championship high-flyers Sunderland in targeting the 29-year-old. However, no details over the potential price of a transfer, or whether it would be a loan move, have been mentioned.
Signing a striker this window is not out of the question for City but there are greater priorities, including on the wing and at centre-back. Plus, rumours around Akpom should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt, given he has been linked with a return to England in every transfer window since first moving to Ajax 18 months ago.
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A decent if unspectacular striker through most of his 20s, Akpom’s career blew up when he netted 28 league goals in 40 games for Middlesbrough in 2022-23. That earned him the title of the Championship’s top scorer and bagged him a move to Dutch giants Ajax in a deal rising to £12m.
While he made a slow start to his first season in the Netherlands, he eventually finished with a creditable 15 goals in 36 outings last term. This season, while featuring regularly but not always as a starter, he has eight goals in 31 appearances across all competitions.
While mainly a striker, Akpom does occasionally play out wide, which may be more appealing to City with Ruud van Nistelrooy keen for a short-term replacement for Abdul Fatawu. But aged 29, Akpom is not traditionally a player that City would target, especially as they already have older players in forward positions in 38-year-old Jamie Vardy, 33-year-old Jordan Ayew and 31-year-old Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
